


Abel-ity

by Samuraiter



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2017-12-22 01:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samuraiter/pseuds/Samuraiter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years before the game, the main character is asked by Naoya to test a game he has been developing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Abel-ity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iori_sempai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iori_sempai/gifts).



> This takes place several years before _DS1_.

_Version Zero,_ Naoya had promised. The title had sounded impressive, setting aside that he admitted that "Version Zero" stood for Version Zero-Plus-Numbers. He had been assembling the game in his free time as one of several projects he did for fun. The base had been original, programmed from the ground up using a language that he had developed from scratch, but he had started by repurposing assets from a copy of _Giten Megami Tensei_ he had scrounged from one of his coworkers. The result had been a tactics-based, grid-set role-playing game, albeit a textless one.

And Kazuya had been all too happy to test it for Naoya. His cousin had never been shy about including him in his projects, had never shut him down or told him he was too young to see what he was doing. (Yes, those _GMT_ assets included artwork that had nudity in it, but he made a point of not drawing attention to it when he noticed it.) In a way, he seemed almost like the big brother every boy wished he had, and Kazuya always took him up on his offers. Booting up a game that he had been anticipating for ages put a big smile on his face, one reflected on the face of his cousin.

"This is exactly like that early build I showed you," Naoya said, pulling up a chair next to Kazuya so he could observe him as he played, "but the map is complete, and the enemy parties are no longer blanks. You still have to escort the two students to the other side of the map without either of them dying." His smile acquired a hint of the sinister – he had added challenges to the game, no doubt, traps for the unwary. "The demons in _your_ party are strong, but can they run _this_ gauntlet? Show me." The PC speaker played a tin-can-sounding _Mission Start_ noise, and the game began.

Kazuya had a Pixie and a Kobold in his party, plus Student A, his pixelated avatar. Student B and Student C – a boy and a girl, dressed in the same uniform as his avatar – had demons of their own, he noticed, unlike in the early build, but that did not change the fact that practically dozens of enemies stood between them and their goal. He also noticed that he could only control Student A, and neither of the other students seemed to make the best decisions for the routes they took across the map. Student B soon found himself beset by half a dozen different parties of demons, as did Student C.

"Naoya," Kazuya said, "is the game cheating? I mean, no matter what I do, it looks like somebody's gonna die." Naoya did not say anything, and his face had assumed a cold, almost stone-like expression. Nothing to do but to go forwards, then, and try to save at least _one_ of the others, but ... if either of them died, that got him a _Game Over_. He _had_ to try to save both. But _how_? He looked at Naoya again. Nothing. And he started making his moves, trying to keep a level head, but becoming frantic as Student B and Student C started taking hit after hit, each of them losing their demons quickly.

Student A, guided by Kazuya, tried to move between his two companions, tried to pull the attention of both groups of enemies, and he, too, became overwhelmed despite Pixie using her _Dia_ spell – healing, that is – every turn. Her MP hit zero, and she died shortly afterwards. The Kobold held on for one turn after that, but he, too, died, and Student A followed suit almost immediately. Ahead, Student B and Student C had made it about halfway across the map, both still alive despite losing all their demons and having their HP near zero. He had _almost_ achieved his goal. Almost!

"No, the game's not cheating," Naoya said, looking strangely impressed, "but I didn't think you were going to try doing it _that_ way. I figured you'd just try and wipe out one group or the other, but you pulled them towards you instead. Good exploit of my A.I. program, but ... it's not a winning gambit. Student A's dead. _You're_ dead." The statement seemed loaded in a way that Kazuya did not (yet) understand. "Anyway, it needs work, but I think that told me what I needed to know. Thanks." A warm smile. He seemed like "big brother" Naoya again, not a cold-blooded, hard-hearted stranger.

"Any time," Kazuya replied, rising from his chair as Naoya turned off the PC, "you're welcome." They got ice cream after that, eating it together in the outdoor seating of the small shop, trading several cards back and forth from a couple of tabletop games that they both enjoyed (and that Naoya, not by coincidence, had helped develop). Naoya hinted that he might have to move in the near future, but he said it might not happen for a while, and that Kazuya need not worry. It was simply a demand of his job, nothing more. Kazuya, deep in his ice cream, almost forgot that he had said anything about it.

Years later, he would remember that calm, quiet afternoon in a very different light.

**END**.


End file.
